1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to container fabrication equipment and more particularly to a method and apparatus for erecting paperboard cartons from flat blanks therefor and stuffing or telescoping a first carton within a second carton to form a double wall container.
2. Prior Art
Paperboard cartons are commonly used by manufacturers to ship manufactured goods such as food products, machine parts and the like to distributors, retail outlets or ultimate consumers. Such paperboard cartons are frequently manufactured in the form of carton blanks which, for convenience, may be shipped flat to the product manufacturer. A common form of carton comprises a single blank having four side panels joined together opposite side edges of the panels and having four top panels and four bottom panels joined to respective opposite edges of the side panels. While such blanks may be erected and sealed manually by forming a blank into a rectangular tube, folding in the bottom end panels, applying adhesive and finally folding and sealing the lateral bottom panels, it is economically desirable to perform some or all of these operations automatically in a sealing machine or in an erecting and sealing machine. An erecting and sealing machine designed to erect and seal a carton of the type referred to is disclosed in application Ser. No. 917,483 filed June 21, 1978 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
In certain circumstances, it may be desirable to use a double wall container so as to provide greater protection to the products packed within the container. Such protection may take the form of increased crushing resistance whereby a greater number of containers may be stacked vertically. It is convenient to form the double wall container by using a second blank having dimensions slightly larger or smaller than the first blank whereby the erected blanks may be telescoped together to form the double walled container. As with the erecting and sealing machine disclosed in application Ser. No. 917,483, the second blank may be erected manually and placed inside, or outside the carton formed from the first blank but it is preferable to perform the necessary steps automatically in an erecting and stuffing machine.